When their daughter Violet is born, it seems Blythe’s reluctance may have been justified.

Fox, however, is so keen to be a father he eventually wins Blythe over, against her better judgment. Blythe has never wanted children, having suffered through a childhood of neglect and alienation from her own mother. Everything changes, though, when they decide to start a family. Blythe is an aspiring writer, Fox a buttoned-up architect, and the story of their early days is one of romance and happy cohabitation. “I’ve come here to give this to you,” she says. As the prologue ends, she picks up a stack of papers from the passenger seat. The tone is ominous without being blatant: within the first few sentences Audrain taps into the primal fear of domestic violation, of being watched by a stranger. “The Push” begins with a prologue, in which an unidentified narrator, a woman, watches through the front window as a family enjoys the Christmas season. In brief, “The Push” is a stunning, compelling read, more than deserving of its pre-publication attention (and deals).Īs to what it’s about? Well, that’s a little more tricky.

Now, a year and a half later, those questions can be answered. In an interview with the Star, Audrain - who started the novel while on maternity leave from her former position as publicity director for Penguin Books Canada - described “The Push” as “a psychological drama told through the lens of motherhood.” Several questions remained: what was “The Push” actually about? And, honestly, how was the book? In the summer of 2019, Toronto writer Ashley Audrain made headlines as rights to her novel “The Push” sold in almost two dozen countries in under two weeks, a nearly unprecedented success for a debut writer.

The push by ashley audrain wiki